Stern has now used his radio show to reveal that NBC bosses reprimanded him for the comments, The Hollywood Reporter says.

"I got a threatening kind of comment from one of the executives," he said. "I was laughing my ass off.

"I said, 'Do not tell me to not talk about Jay Leno. I will f**king talk about Jay Leno for four hours if you tell me not to'. I was done with Jay, now I'm all fired up again. F**k Jay!"

However, Stern, who referred to Leno's pay cut by saying: "Just keep it to your f**king self," also admitted that he loves appearing on America's Got Talent.

"I love working for the people at NBC, they've been nothing but wonderful," he said. "I don't answer to anybody. Everybody knows that. That's part of the game. And that's why I'm a great f**king judge. I will tell people if they suck."